In case anyone isn't yet sick of this subject, PZ Myers linked an interview he did this morning with The Minnesota Independent, in which he affirms that he still plans to follow through on his threat:
So much for the theory that he was just trying to provoke a response. I'll leave it to you to sort out how thoroughly the interview reveals Myers' ignorance of the full extent of the issues involved.MnIndy: Has the outrcry over your your post given you second thoughts about getting a host and treating "it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web"?
Myers: The response has done nothing but confirm it: I have to do something. I'm not going to just let this disappear. It's just so darned weird that they're demanding that I offer this respect to a symbol that means nothing to me. Something will be done. It won't be gross. It won't be totally tasteless, but yeah, I'll do something that shows this cracker has no power. This cracker is nothing.
7 comments:
I kind of feel like 'let him do it'.
It says more about him personally conducting this little crusade than it says about the Catholic Church or anyone else involved.
This will probably turn off many moderate atheists, those sensible to realise that this was a dumb isolated incident that has been given way too much time.
If he aims to insult all Christians, he's got a long way to go... as we know it's really only Catholics - who believe in transference.
Utterly stupid act by the church in question, utterly pointless exercise by someone who is supposed to be more intelligent than this.
I'm afraid that no matter what PZ Myers does at this point, Bill Donohue has already done more harm to Catholicism (and with it, Christianity in general) than PZ can do to atheism. Yes, Christians and a few non-Christian moderates will condemn him as a fundamentalist, but if he does go through with it, I can't even imagine the commotion the Catholic League will raise then. PZ may prove himself an insensitive prick, but I fear it will be the over-the-top reaction which will be remembered.
Heads he wins, tails we lose.
I think Meyers does harm to those of us who want to keep Creationism and ID out of the science classrooms. We can't point to him as an educator interested only in truth; anyone reading him can see he has an issue with religious folks, and since most people are religious, they will take offense. That's not how you win over those who make the decisions when the school board considers "balanced science" curriculum.
That is true, Frank, and it seems to have occured to a few of Myers' fellow sciencebloggers (see here). Personally, however, I can't say that's very high on my list of concerns at this point.
He will continue to polarize atheist abolutists and his lack of understanding that a symbol is tied with human communities is evidence that the guy is just a jerk and an ass - nothing more. Donaghue and he are two sides of the same coin I call stupid religion.
It seems that the Eucharist desecration debacle has something to irritate just about everyone. It irritates PZ Myers that he thinks he is being forced to show respect to a symbol that has no meaning for him. It irritates you that he is ignorant of the full extent of the issues involved, and that Bill Donohue and the Catholic League are overreacting. The overreaction to Myers'threat of desecration irritates nearly everyone, but lack of reaction irritates the over reactors. Ultimately, I am irritated by those who single out Christians to offend only because it is relatively safe to do so. They remind me of schoolyard bullies, picking on a large and muscular yet gentle and peace loving kid rather than the smaller obnoxious kid who has a scar over his eye and just loves to fight. It says something about them.
I think that about sums it up, majorsteve! And I think PZ would be happy to know that he had succeeded in irritating just about everyone! ;)
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